Love to Hate, Hate to Love
by ScarletSummer
Summary: Under construction! Missing chapter! Read the author's note on ch. 1 for details!
1. Both of Us

A/N: Okay everyone! **READ THIS, it's super IMPORTANT**.

I am currently revising this _entire _story, making a TON of changes to it. They are all massive improvements as the original version is not only several years old, but also of a much lower writing quality than my current capabilities.

Now, I am NOT changing the main plot or most of the scenes very far from their original versions, so it still will not be quite up to my present skill level in writing. But I am trying to stay true to my old self from three years ago who created this story. The chapters will also be short until I get all sixteen replaced, because I am trying to get that done quickly.

**NOTE**: If you know what's good for you, do NOT read past the chapters that actually have chapter titles (such as 'Both of Us,' not just 'Chapter one'). The titled chapters are the new and improved ones and reading the others will be confusing. Some chapters are missing and a lot of them just suck. So, for your sake and mine, just keep with the new chapters.

Because I am merely replacing chapters instead of reposting, you will not get email updates from ffnet when I update. If you would like to be on my personal mailing list for receiving emails when I revise a new chapter, please say so in a review on here.

One final thing, I am changing my pen name soon to Scarlet Summer. PLEASE keep this in mind.

A million and one thanks to my fantastic beta **Jazz E. Roisin** for helping me out on all of this.

* * *

_We're fighting this war, and baby both of us are losing_

Chapter One

* * *

"Mudblood," Draco Malfoy said to Hermione Granger in way of greeting.

"Malfoy," she said icily. Thanks to being Head Boy and Girl, they were often forced into each other's presence. Hermione had been sitting in the Heads' common room reading a book, simply for pleasure seeing as she had already finished all of her new seventh year textbooks. She was quite enjoying her favorite pastime and did not appreciate the likes of Malfoy interrupting it. She glared up at him. "What do you want?"

Draco glowered down at her but refrained from saying what he really wanted to; he had already had gained two death threats on Hermione's behalf just for having to share a living space with her. _Damn Potter and Weasel. _Hermione, however, being rendered harmless by Draco's fellow Slytherins, had received no such threats.

"Dumbledore wants us to meet him in his office. Now," he said emotionlessly. In fact, the only emotions Hermione ever saw him show were anger, arrogance and spite.

"Fine," she replied, snapping her book shut. They walked in total silence, pretending not to be walking together, to the Headmaster's office.

"Ice mice," said Draco impatiently. The stone gargoyle jumped aside and the two of them ascended the spiral staircase. Hermione knocked on the door and they were let in a moment later.

"Nice evening, isn't it? Miss Granger, Mister Malfoy, do have a seat," Dumbledore said kindly, motioning toward two chairs in front of his desk. Professor Dumbledore's office was filled with instruments that even Hermione could not identify. "I am here simply to ask that the two of you, knowing your history, behave civilly to each other and everyone else at all times. I know this may prove difficult, but as I have informed all of the teachers, if you are caught being anything but civil, both of you will be reprimanded in one way or another. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Headmaster," Hermione replied obediently.

"Yes sir," Draco replied grudgingly after a moment or two.

"Very good, off to bed you two, classes start tomorrow." The heads left the office, again pretending not to be together, and made their way back to their common room.

"Civil, my ass," muttered Draco as soon as their portrait hole shut behind them.

"Malfoy, I am no happier than you are to be in this situation, but I think Professor Dumbledore has a point. It wouldn't show very good inter-house relationships if we-" Draco cut her off.

"Don't tell me you believe the crap the Sorting Hat has been going on about for years? Inter-house relationships- what's the point? Plus, I doubt you mind this arrangement as much as you pretend to," he said with a signature Malfoy smirk.

"And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?" she questioned defensively.

"I know you think I am sexy. I know you think about what it would be like if we-" Her hand smacked onto his mouth, preventing him from finishing.

"What makes you think I think about that? I have not, and it seems to me that you have because you're the one who brought it up," she hissed.

He easily pulled her hand off his lips and then pushed her up against the wall, restraining her with his hands on her shoulders.

"Watch what you wish for," he said coolly.

"What is that supposed to mean? I didn't wish for anything," she argued. He didn't reply and before she could question him further, he went off into his dormitory, the door closing almost silently.

* * *

"I think they're cute together," stated Hermione three weeks later to Ron during lunch.

"I don't," he grumbled.

"Come on, Ron. Ginny could do _so _much worse than Harry. She could be dating Malfoy."

"Why would she do that? Malfoy is an evil git. Who would want to date him anyway?"

"You mean besides girls like Parkinson?" Hermione said distractedly. Malfoy had completely avoided her whenever possible since the first day of school. Not that she wanted his company more often than during Prefect meetings and the few classes they had together, or at all for that matter, but it was odd. Usually Draco went out of his way to be near her, to torment her. Perhaps he had listened to Dumbledore. Now, as she looked over at the Slytherin table, she didn't even see him there. There had to be something going on. Knowing him, and how he had at least one thing in common with Ron, he hardly ever missed a meal. Her natural curiosity taking advantage of her, Hermione made an excuse of having a minor headache to leave the Great Hall. She hurried back to the heads' common room to see if Malfoy was there.

Sure enough, she found him stretched out on the couch, sound asleep. She had wondered whether or not he had been sleeping at all recently. She never saw him come into the dorms, or leave them. He always seemed to be out somewhere. Up until today, she hadn't really cared, but now she wanted to know why he hadn't been around.

"Malfoy," she said softly as she shook him awake.

"What?" he groaned sleepily.

"Why are you sleeping?" she asked, staring down at him with her hands on her hips.

"Why do you care?" he asked her, sitting up.

"You've been acting strangely lately, and I was just wondering why."

"Like that's any of your business, Mudblood. Now, carry on your merry way and let me be," he said before rolling over and putting a pillow over his head.

"Why don't you sleep in your bed?"

"Why don't you shut the hell up?"

Hermione glared at him, wishing she could glare straight through the pillows then on through his head, and stomped up the stairs to her dormitory.

_Last time I try to be nice to him, _she thought. _Pointless to be curious about what's wrong with him anyway._

She took her things out of her bag to begin the four sheets of Transfiguration analysis that was due next week, sighing loudly.

_But what's wrong with him?_

_* * *

* * *

_

A/N: Well? How was it? Please review! I've put SO much effort into improving this story! I'm going to have the second chapter up very, very soon. Oh, if anyone wants to guess the lyrics that form the title of every chapter, go for it (but keep in mind that Google is cheating). I'll mention your name in the next chapter I post. =]

Please dears, remember that I'm changing my pen name!

Thank you all


	2. Push You Away

A/N: If you didn't read the author's note at the beginning of the first chapter, please do so now. It is very important to the validity of this story.

Once again, note my impending name change to Scarlet Summer, and please, feel free to review with your email address to be put on the alert list for when I post new chapters.

In case anyone was wondering, today is November 21, 2009. That will give you some scope as to how my progress is going on this.

Oh, I should disclaim.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine. Only the plot is an original creation of mine.

Thanks very much to my beta, Jazz E. Roisin.

Enjoy.

* * *

_You're waiting for someone to put you together, you're waiting for someone to push you away_

Chapter Two

* * *

From then on out, Hermione tried her best to figure out what was going on with Draco, without allowing him to realize she was paying any attention. Spying on a Malfoy did not prove as easy as she would have hoped.

She was skulking around a fourth floor corridor, having followed him for the past half an hour. She was certain he'd gone down this way, but he had inexplicably disappeared. Glancing around, there were only three doors along this stretch of hallway, and she was presuming he was behind one of them. Opening the doors and checking, however, would instantly give her away.

She had just sat down on the floor when she heard footsteps hurrying down the corridor. She glanced around the suit of armor she was next to, just in time to see a girl, perhaps a sixth year, slipping into the door farthest down the hall. Once the door was shut, she silently approached it.

"You're late today, Davis," Draco's voice was low enough that she was leaning on the door to hear.

"Draco, Draco. You've seen me naked more times than I can count and you still use my surname?" Hermione vaguely remembered having a class with Tracey Davis last year, but she also recalled Draco having nothing to do with her.

"If you want me to use your first name, you would have to earn it," he replied. Hermione could practically hear him smirking.

"You're being snippy tonight," Tracey observed.

"I told you I didn't want to come tonight, that Mudblood Granger's been following me all week. She can probably hear everything we're saying."

Hermione gasped and fell back from the door, crashing into another suit of armor. She heard Draco chuckling.

A second later, the door opened to Tracey staring down at her with wide eyes. She glowered down at Hermione then stormed off in a huff. Hermione stood, dusting herself off and walking slowly through the now half-opened door.

"So," she said, cheeks flaming from the embarrassment of being caught following him. "How did you know?"

"You may be the brightest witch of our year and all that, Granger, but stealth is not your forte."

"Have you really been sneaking off all this time and not sleeping for the past month to hang out in dirty, abandoned classrooms with Davis?" she asked with a bravado she wasn't quite feeling at the moment.

"Davis and I don't just hang out," he replied, rolling his eyes. "We just shag a lot." Hermione groaned.

"You're disgusting."

"I can see why someone like you would find it to be such, yes." He was outright laughing at her now.

"Someone like me? What exactly am I like, Ferret?" she stepped toward where he sat on an old desk.

"You, my bushy haired nuisance, are a prudish little bookworm who has no idea what she has between her legs, let alone how to use it," he answered, leering at her.

"You are the most…" But the Gryffindor seemed incapable of finding a word that fit her repulsion. Without saying anything else, she turned and marched right back out the door.

* * *

Hermione sat fuming at breakfast the next morning, stabbing her food more than eating it. She was aware that Ron and Harry had been shooting her suspicious looks all morning.

"Erm, Hermione, is something, er, bothering you this morning?" Harry asked cautiously.

_I can't possibly tell him about what Malfoy said._

"Just the Head Boy being the king of gits yesterday is all," she answered before deciding to finally actually take a bite of her breakfast. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Well you don't usually let him get to you."

"He was particularly irritating last night," she muttered.

"You could tell us about it," Ron suggested through a mouthful of toast. Hermione grimaced at him.

"It's really not worth you two getting worked up over and trying to attack him. I need to recheck my astronomy homework, I'll see you two later." With that, she hurried off to the library as Ron and Harry exchanged worried looks.

Finding the farthest, darkest corner of the library, Hermione sat down at a small table and pulled out her work. She was hoping to avoid Malfoy as much as possible, but she also knew he spent almost as much time in the library as she did. She was halfway through revising her star chart when she noticed a large shadow fall over her books. Sighing heavily, she ignored his presence and did her best to continue her work.

"Pretending that I'm not here won't make me go away, Granger," he said before swiftly sitting down in the chair across from her. The table was very small, meaning that his knees rubbed against hers with each of his movements. Hermione took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment._ Don't let him get to you, it's what he wants._

"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked, staring him straight in the eye.

"We need to make a deal."

"I am not liable to make any kinds of agreements with you, Ferret," she replied.

"I can't have you talking about what you discovered about me last night," he said, his voice tight as if he wished he was talking to anyone but her.

"Well, sorry, but I can talk about whatever I want to with anyone I want." She turned adamantly back to her parchment.

"I am prepared to pay you."

"I don't want your money, Malfoy."

"Well then what _do _you want?"

"Why is it so important that no one knows about you and Davis?" she inquired, looking back up at him.

"That really isn't your business," he said stiffly.

"Well then I'm afraid I am not in the position to negotiate. Good day." She stood and began to pack up her things.

"Wait!" He grabbed her arm before she could pick up her school bag. Hermione stared down at his hand on her skin, frozen in place. Draco realized what he had done and dropped his hand instantly. "Tracey is a half-blood. She may not be a mud- muggleborn like you, but my father will still not approve. I can't have it getting out that I'm involved with her because Lucius will certainly have his retribution if he discovers I've been with anyone less than pure blooded."

The desperation in his voice and the fact that he had confessed so much made Hermione drop back into her chair, her bare leg brushing his trousers again.

"You have to be nice to me and civil to Ron and Harry," she said shortly, carefully keeping her expression blank.

"What? No, no I can't play nice with Scarhead and Weasel. That's asking for the impossible there, Granger."

"Well then I guess daddy won't be too happy with you when he finds out about your girlfriend." She went to stand again.

"Fine, I'll be civil toward you," he said, the desperate tone returning with a vengeance.

"No, that's not what I said. I said _nice _to me and civil to Ron and Harry," she said.

"That's asking for a miracle, Granger. Are you forgetting who I am?"

"You are a death eater's son who chose to join the good side, endangering your own life to do what you think is right. You're not that different from Ron or Harry," she said, a stern look to rival Professor McGonagall's.

"H-how did you even know about that?" he asked, looking completely outraged.

"I _am _part of the Order, Malfoy. You should know that."

"Isn't that a violation of my privacy?" he asked, glaring at her. Hermione simply rolled her eyes.

"The Order of the Phoenix is the _only _thing keeping your daddy's Death Eater friends from hunting you down and killing you for betraying them. They all know it was based a lot on _your _information that Harry, Ron and I found and destroyed Voldemort earlier this year. The Order is the reason you're alive, Malfoy. Privacy should be your last concern," she hissed at him, looking around to make sure no one had heard. He stood up, slamming his chair into the table as he did.

"Fine, Mudblood. I'll be nice to you and civil to Potty and Weasel. But if I find out that you've said anything, _anything _about Tracey or anything else, I guarantee you will regret it." Before Hermione could respond, he was gone.

* * *

* * *

A/N: Once again, don't go past the titled chapters in your reading. Thanks so much. Please review! 3333


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry, sorry, sorry. I know it's been too long, I am sorry. One reason is that i got a shot and it made my whole arm hurt so i couldnt wirte. another is that i have been distracted by someone and the trouble i've gotten into at work. anyways. i know this is short but at leats it's an update, i will get back om track. i will._

_

* * *

Hermione saw very little of Draco for the next two weeks. It was juts like before, but this time, she ws avoiding him. He tried to pull another one of his 'attacks', as Hermione called it, every now and then, but she would manage to get away, most commonly locking her self in the nearest bathroom after wards._

_"Why is he doing this?" she wondered aloud after the most recent 'attack'. _

_"Who?" a mournful voice asked from behind her. _

_"No one, Myrtle," she replied heavily. Although she didn't generally approve of lying, she seemed to be doing a lot of it recently. There was no way anyone could know about this. _

_"Liar," the ghost replied in a sing song voice. _

_"It's nothing, Myrtle," she insisted after a moment. _

_"Then why have you been locking yourself in here so much?" _

_"Because I need some time to myself. Now please, I don't feel like talking." _

_"ThenI suggest you leave because I am not going to stop talking," Moaning Myrtle replied whimsically. Hermione sighed and went out the door cautiously. hoping Draco was gone. To her relief, he was no where in sight. _

_She walked to the common room they shared, and went in. Joy. She thought when she saw him lounging on the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling. He glanced at her and smiled. _

_"I knew you'd have to come here eventually," he said slyly. He got up and took one of her hands in his, pulling her toward to sofa. _

_"Malfoy, why do you keep doing this?" she asked, but didn't take her hand from his grasp. _

_"You seriously expect me to answer that?" he asked bemusedly. _

_"Yes, I do," she replied. He sighed and pulled her down onto his lap. _

_"Let's play a game," he suggested. _

_"No, I want you to answer the question." _

_"If you play the game, you will get the answer. It's a guessing game. You guess why I do this and i will tell you if you are correct or at least close to the right answer." _

_"Fine. You do it because you know it aggrivates me," she said, putting out her first guess. _

_"Nope, try again," he said as he kissed her neck. She shifted uncomfortably, but guessed again. _

_"You already went through all the girls in Slytherin and I was the easiest for you to get," she said inquisitively. _

_"No, and I am hurt you would say such a thing. I am not like that. Give me some of your time and you can see that. Your'e not easy to get anyway." _

_"Uh huh." she said disbelievingly. Then on a whim she added, "Because youfancy me." _

_See, you are the smartest one in this school," he said, kissing her again. _

_"Uh... what?" she asked, not sure what just happened. _

_"You guessed right, Hermione," he said simply. "Now wasn't that a fun game?" _

_"I... Uh..." she stuttered, clueless on what to say. _

_"I know you fancy me as well. I can tell by how y ou are just sitting there, not fighting. Also by the way you have kissed me. I know. Don't deny it." _

_"I'm not," she whispered. He smiled and after kissing her once more, gently eased her off his lap. _

_"Good night, Hermione," he said smugly, striding toward their bedrooms. _

_"Night," she mumbled distractedly. _

_Hermione woke up the next morning to an owl tapping on her bedroom window. She opened it and the owl flew in. It held an envelope and a single red rose in its beak. She took the items and it soared back out the window. She put a non-wilting charm onteh rose and sta down on her bed to read the letter. _

_Hermione, _

_Why are you so against us being together? I know you want it. Please meet me out on the grounds in front of the lake today after dinner. Please, Hermione. I won't do anything, I promise. The rose came from a garden of an elderly wizard that waters his plants with diluted unicorn blood. It brings good fortune to anyone who receives one, but only if the person that sent it to them loves them. Expect good fortune, Hermione. _

_Draco. _


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: in the note in the last chapter it said that the wizard used unicorn blood. well he gets it from unicorns that have died of natural causes and it is approved of by the ministry. (I made that all up by the way, i dont know if the ministry would approve of it by JK Rowlings opinions, but still) sorry it has taken so long, i have been havingsome of personal issues recently. i am feelign very creative now however so updates should come quicker. by the way, i have decided to stop answering the reviews unless its something the readers need to know. enjoy.

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Chaper three

* * *

Hermione laid the letter on her bed side table and fell back onto her bed. _This has to be some sort of trick._ She thought, still holding the rose. Why was he doing this? What could possibly be motivating him to do this? She sighed and then got up to get ready for the day's classes. They went by unbelieveably slowly, seeing as unlike usual, she was not able concentrate on the classes themselves. She just wanted the day to be over so she would no longer have to think about theletter. 

Later that night at dinner, Hermione was sitting inbetween Ron and Ginny, with Harry on Ginny's other side. 

"Hey, Mione, what's this?" Ginny asked. Hermione turned toward her, and to her horror, saw her holding the letter. She attempted to snatch it from her, but ended up only ripping off the bottom of it. 

"Nothing, Ginny. May I have it back?" she requested, reaching for it. Ginny backed away so that Hermione couldn't get to the letter, and read over it. 

"Oh my gosh, Hermione!" she squealed so loudly that the whole of the great hall stared at them. "You're going to go right?" 

"I don't think so," she said, finally getting the note back, her faced red with annoyance and embarrasment. It was then she noticed that when the letter was torn, that Draco's name had come off, leaving Ginny with an unsigned letter. Hermione let out a sigh of relief and quickly placed the strip of parchment that told the name of the letter's writer into her robes. 

"Why not? Who sent it to you?" Ginny asked, still being rather loud. 

"Forget it," Hermione insisted. 

"I will only shut up if you promise to go," Ginny said. 

"Fine," Hermione said aggrivatedly. _This is great. _She thought sarcastically. She glanced up just in time to see Draco staring at her. Once he noticed he'd been caught, he got up, giving her a bemused look. She watched him leave then excused herself. 

"I have to go," and without giving anyone a chance to reply, she left.

* * *

"Hermione, I didn't think you'd show up," Draco said ten minutes later.  
"Honestly, neither did I," she admitted. "So why did you ask me to meet you here?"  
"I... It's just..." he stuttered.  
"Malfoy, stop playing games, okay? I am really tired of you trying to trick me," she stated impatiently.  
"Oh, no, Hermione. I'm not playing games. I'm not trying to trick you. I just, don't know what else to do," he said, seeming to have trouble getting each word out.  
"_What else to do? _I don't know, Malfoy, perhaps act like a normal human being," she said, not realizing how unfriendly that statement had been.  
"You don't understand. I don't know how to do this..."  
"Do what? Torture me? Because that is what you're doing. What do you get out of this? You keep making moves on me. Why? You hate me, I hate you, remember?"  
"Hermione, it's really not like that. I, I don't hate you."  
"So the way you've been treating me for the past 7 years has been what? If this isn't hate, I don't think I want to find out what is," she sighed tiredly. What the bloody hell was he up to? _Draco Malfoy, a wizard of onlythe purest blood, not hate Hermione Granger, a witch with no magical heritage? _Who was he kidding? What kind of sick, demented trick was he attempting? These, and many other thoughts swirled through her head. She refused to think about the possibility that he wasn't lying. 

"Please, I don't hate you and never have. I am trying to explain this to you so you understand when I don'tevenget itmyself. So it's notthat easy for me, alright? I really would appreciate it if you stopped accusing me of lying and gave me a chance to put some logic into this." 

"You are unbelieveable," she said simply and walked off.  
"Hermione! Wait!" he called after her.  
"Shove off Malfoy!" she yelled back.

* * *

sorry of the last part was a bit confusing, but it was meant to be that way. please review, you know how i love reviews! they make me very very happy! 


	5. Chapter 6

Yes, it's very short, i am aware of that. And i know i said i would get it up earlier but my internet has been so screwed up i wasnt able to. it's short because i keep getting disconnected, and if i do while i'm writing i'll lose it all and then i'd have to re write it. more up soon.

* * *

Hermione sighed and fell back down onto her bed. _How could this be happening? There is no way he meant that, he just has to be lying. _She closed her eyes and cleared her mind, deciding she would contemplate his motives in the morning, she was way to tired for it right now. She managed to block out the thunderstorm and fell asleep within ten minutes.

She woke up the next morning and did the usual- shower, get dressed, etc. She went from breakfast to dinner without encountering Draco. Part of her was happy about this, not having to deal with his possibly truthful, but most likely not, confession of his love for her was a relief. Hermione's other half was filled with curiosity, she just had to know what was going on with him. She walked into ther common room, only barely having escaped from Ginny, who wanted to tell her all about how sweet and wonderful Harry is. Hermione was really happy for the couple, but to hear one of her best friends spoken about in that way was nearly unbearable. 

Draco came in minutes later. 

"Hey Hermione," he said sitting next to her. "Have a nice day?" 

"Yeah, i guess so," she said distractedly.  
"I know what I said last night is hard to take in, or even believe, but Hermione, I swear I am not lying. That's how I feel, and I understand if you don't feel that way about me. I just want another chance to show you that i am not the heartless gitI seem to be," he said sincerely, looking into her eyes. 

"Okay," she said, almost mesmerized by his gaze. "One more chance, don't screw it up." 

"I won't, I promise." 

She nodded and pulled a book out of her bag and started on the homework she'd been putting off for days.

* * *

PLEASE review. even if you yell at me for making it so short, please review. 


	6. Chapter 7

Draco also began on his homework and she couldn't help but notice that he kept glancing sideways at her. One time, their eyes met and he smiled at her. There was a knock at the portrait hole about a half hour later. 

"Who is it?" Draco asked. 

"Ron and Harry," said Harry's voice. Hermione got up to let them in. 

"Do they have to come in?" Draco asked. 

"This is my place as much as your, my friends can come in if they want to," she answered. 

"Fine, but you'll owe me," he said with a grin. 

"Hey guys," she said as she let them in. 

"We realized that even though we're more than a month into term we have never seen your new common room," said Ron. 

"So we decided to pay you a visit," added Harry. 

"Well this is it." When Hermione turned back around to face the sofa, she saw that Draco was gone. 

"Where'd Malfoy go?" Ron asked sitting down. 

"Probably up to his dormitory," she answered carelessly. 

"So what's it like living with him?" Harry asked. 

"We don't see each other much, and except for sharing a bathroom, it isn't really that different." 

"You share a bathroom with Malfoy?" Ron said incredulously. 

"Yeah. He's not all gross though so it stays clean," she answered. Ron gave her a skeptical look but didn't comment. 

"I'm glad they're gone," Draco said to Hermione a while later. 

"Why?" she asked as he led her over to the sofa. 

"Because, I can't do this with them here," he said. Draco then pulled her down next to him on the couch and began kissing her neck softly. 

"Oh I see," she replied. And, for the first time, she took some initiative and began kissing him. She began leaning back until she was lying down, pulling him on top of her. His shirt had slid up a little and she ran her fingers over the exposed skin on his lower back. He was using one hand to hold himself up enough that he wasn't crushing her, the other was on her hip. He slowly began slipping his fingertips up under the bottom of Hermione's top, he reached the middle of her stomach before she stopped him. 

"No further," she whispered into his ear. 

"Okay," he said. She wasn't sure if she had complete trust in him, but she could tell that he wouldn't do anything she didn't want him to. 

"We should go to bed," she said after a while. 

"Yeah, we should," he said, although he didnt stop kissing her. She pushed him up so that they were sitting up while kissing and then pulled away. 

"Night, Draco," she said quietly. 

"Goodnight Hermione," he replied, and with a couple last kisses they went off to their bedrooms. 

Since they hadnt gone public about their relationship yet, unless they were alone, Hermione and Malfoy hed to pretend they hated each other. For them, this was like a game. They would be falsely cruel to one another and then once out of sight of anyone else they would end up snogging. They didn't make their relationship official, and both, for the time being, were fine with that. Due to the history they had and how this had all began, neither of them were ready to make that commitment to the person they were supposed to hate most. 

Hermione had forgiven him for all the things he'd doen to her, for all the times he'd called her a mudblood. Draco however, had nothing to forgive her for. Anything mean she had done to him had always been in reactions to his tormenting of her and her friends. She didn't want to think about how Harry and Ron would react when they found out about her romance with one of their enemies, if they ever found out. Neither had discussed telling anyone else about it, or about making things definate between them. 

They spent their days playing the hate you, love you game and studying excessively so that they could pass their N.E.W.T.S. All the professors were extremely hard on the seventh years, the diffuculty they had in the fifth year was nothing compared to this. 

Ron had began dating Lavender Brown about a week after Hermione gave Draco one last chance. Lavender could be slightly on the ditzy airheaded side, but Hermione figured that might be slightly why he liked her. She was aware that it had always bothered Ron that she got marks so much higher than hers. It wasn't surprising that he went for a girl who had a lower intellectual level him. 

The days were getting shorter and colder, so the heads of house spent much time together on their common room sofa, enjoying the heat emmiting from the fire. She still refused to let him put his hands farther up her shirt, and she didn't try going further on him. He had a feeling that this was caused by their lack of true commitment since they weren't officially dating yet. She wanted to be his girlfriend, but Hermione was also afraid of what that might bring. 


	7. Chapter 8

October, Halloween, and a Hogsmeade trip all passed. Hermione's relationship with Draco remained undefined. As of yet, no one had caught on and they had yet to discuss wether or not others should know. Draco didn't try to get up her shirt anymore, and she was happy with that. He was the only boy she had ever kissed besides Krum (and besides her friends and family) and she wanted to take it slowly. Hermione wanted him to ask her out so badly, but she couldn't bear to ask him. Though she had no idea why he didn't ask her to be his girlfriend, since he loved her. he hadn't said 'I love you' since that one night, probably because he knew it would put too much pressure on Hermione.

"Hey, babe," she said as she walked into their shared common room one early November night.

"Hi," he said with a smile. He took her hand as she walked past and pulled her down onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she held his face gently between her hands as he pressed his lips ever so lightly against hers. The kiss slowly evolved into one more romantic. Their tongues slid around eachother and she resituated herself without breaking the kiss so that she was straddling him. Her chest was pressed against his and he slid his hands down her back until they reached the back pockets on her jeans. He knew she liked that when she pushed harder against his body. After many minutes, Hermione ended the kiss, for need of air. They were both breathless and she leaned her forehead onto his.

"Why did we wait until our seventh year to do this?" Draco asked her.

"Because we weren't living together before this year," she answered.

"Well, we should have been." She smiled and began kissing him again.

* * *

"So who was it that sent you that letter?" Ginny asked Hermione the next day. Draco was out at Quidditch practice so Hermione had gone over to Ginny's dorm to hang out for a while.

"What letter?" Hermione asked as she sifted through Ginny's nail polish case.

"The one you got like a month ago from some guy asking you to meet him out at the lake. Remember? You had it at dinner and I found it then you freaked out?" Ginny clarified.

"Umm, well..." What was she supposed to say? _Oh yeah, Gin. That letter was from Draco. Yes, Draco Malfoy, the guy you were born hating. Who by the way, I make out with at least once a day now? _No.

"Hermione! Tell, you can't keep secrets from me," Ginny said indignantly.

"Um, I can't exactly say,'' Hermione replied.

"Yes you can, you know everything about _my _life."

"Actually I don't know how far you and Harry have gone, you never told me," Hermione said, trying to change the subject. Ginny blushed.

"Fine. Okay, so I don't mean to sound crude, but I really don't know how else to say it... Harry has felt me up. But that's it. I won't let him do any more than that," Ginny replied, saying the last few sentances very quickly.

''Oh, Gin, you know all of your brothers would kill him if they found out," Hermione commented.

"Yes I know, that's why I don't want to tell anyone."

"You know your secret is safe with me," Hermione said, standing up. "But now I must go..."

"Hey, not so fast. Now you _do _know everything about me so you have to tell me all about this guy," Ginny insisted.

"Fine..." Hermione went on to tell Ginny the whole story, leaving nothing out. The look of shock mixed with horror upon Ginny's face was almost enough to make her want to take it back.

"Well, it's good to have something unexpected going on here, it's been kind of dull lately," Ginny said after a moment of shocked silence.


	8. Chapter 9

A/N: sorry it took so long... I am getting lazy

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"Draco, what are we?" Hermione asked him one day during a free period they had after lunch. He looked up from his arithmancy book.

"Humans, I do believe," he answered with a trademark Malfoy smirk.

"No, I mean like... how would you define our relationship?" she asked, setting her quill down on the table. _Maybe this will encourage him to ask me out. _She thought. She had been thinking ever since she talked to Ginny that she needed to get this straight with him.

"I, I um don't know," he said after apparently thinking it over.

"Well, we need something to go by," she said. He opened his mouth to reply but there was a knock at the door. Hermione got up and opened it.

"Professor Dumbledore," she said, surprised.

"Hermione, Draco, there is an urgent situation at hand. I have gotten word from a trusted informant that there is going to be a death eater invasion this weekend," he said breathlessly. Hermione took a moment to look the aged wizard over. He indeed seemed older and weaker than he ever had. With everything going on with the death eaters and Voldemort, Dumbledore wasn't doing so well.

"Well what can we do, Professor?" Draco asked suddenly. It wasn't like him to willingly do anything for the headmaster, but he seemed to sense the seriousness in the old man.

"We have to secure the castle, its too short notice to send the students home and we can't have death eaters coming in. Hermione, I want you to go find Harry and Ron and take them down to the Great Hall. All the prefects are already there. Your job is to set up the hall for all of us to be staying in. Be prepared for us to be there for a while. Mister Malfoy, I wish for you to come with me and the other teachers and we are going to work on warding them off," he said hurriedly. With that he was out the door. The two teenagers stood there motionless for a moment.

"Hermione, this may be a bad time, but would you like to be my girlfriend?" Draco asked.

"Yes, I would," she said, and despite the current threat, she couldn't help but smile. He pulled her towards him and kissed her hard on the lips.

"We have to go," he said and they headed out after Dumbledore, going where they were told to go.

Hermione quickly found Ron and Harry and informed them of what happened while they ran to the Great Hall. Like Dumbledore had said, all the prefects were already there. The place was simply chaotic. Everyone was rushing about and talking rapidly, not knowing what to do.

"Quiet!" Hermione yelled. Almost instantly the talked died down and they all looked up at her. "Now, I am sure Dumbledore has told you about the death eater threat. What we have to do is prepare this place to be lived in by the whole population of Hogwarts for an unknown amount of time. So, now, Robertson- I want you to put an expansion charm on this room. It's not nearly large enough for everyone. Killinger, Hampton and Damani- I want you three to make the raised portion over where the teachers normally sit into a dining area. Everyone else, the rest of the room needs to be prepared for beds and similar things. Get to it!" Immediately everyone began to do what he or she was told. Hermione, Ron, and Harry proceeded to supervise it all and help with some of the more difficult spells, seeing as they were the only seventh years and more advanced than the others. After several hours of reconstruction, the Great Hall was entirely different. There were several dividing walls going between the dining area, and the bad chambers of girls and boys from different houses. Everyone was tired and seated around a table at the front of the room when Draco, Dumbledore and the other professors entered the room.

"Good work, everyone," the headmaster said, standing at the head of the table. "We will soon be bringing in the students, by year. We have put many charms and enchantments upon the castle and there is no way the death eaters can enter the building. Due to the amount of protection we have on the castle, there is very little on the grounds and we will have to deal with them outside. When they arrive, the teachers and myself, along with some extra backup, will go out to battle them. I want you all to stay in here and keep watch over the students. Once we are all in here, no one is to leave this room without my consent. Is this all clear?" There was a chorus of "yes, sir" to this. Dumbledore nodded approvingly and pulled Harry, Hermione, Draco and Ron out in the main corridor.

"Now, we are having all the members of the Order coming in tonight. I am to assume that the four of you are going to be insistent upon participating in this battle?" he asked.

"Yes, Professor," they all said.

"Good. Now, Ron, I want you to go to the Ravenclaw common room, Hermione to Hufflepuff, Harry to Gryffindor and Draco to Slytherin. Release the students, starting with the first years. After you release them, hold the second years for ten minutes then proceed with the rest accordingly," he instructed. The four teens did as they were told, and soon all the students of Hogwarts were within the magically redecorated Great Hall. Everyone sat down at the dining tables and waited in silence. Dumbledore approached the head of the table once more and said "Students, there is a threat upon the school, one made by death eaters. There will be no leaving this room, or sending owls, until it has been dealt with. I assure you that this situation is taken care of. From now until I say otherwise, the prefects have the authority of a teacher, so you are to listen to them. Now, said prefects shall show you all to your separate sleeping quarters."

Once all the other kids were in their makeshift dormitories, Hermione and Draco went into his private room in the back. They sat on the bed and she collapsed against him. Draco wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her forehead.

"What if this doesn't work out as well as Dumbledore says it will?" she asked him.

"When has he been wrong before?" Draco replied.

"I don't know, from all of this I am to tired to really think about it," she sighed. "And it's only five."

"I am too, babe," he remarked, lightly running his fingers over her stomach. She leaned up and kissed his cheek. It was then that he saw tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, it's just… I thought this would be over. I thought all the fear would be gone, since Harry defeated Voldemort and all…" she said, trailing off. Draco lifted her face to his and kissed her lightly.

"It will be fine, just as Dumbledore said. I promise." She smiled up at him.

"I trust you."

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A/N: eh, not my best work. it is my second longest chapter for this story though! YAY. review more and the faster the updates come.


	9. Chapter 10

A/N: This chapter may seem really confusing. It was meant to be. If you have any questions, tell me in a review or email me at phazed71377 at yahoo dot com and I will reply to you.

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Disclaimer: Yes, I own Harry Potter. That's why I spend all my time on here writing fan fictions. I don't own HP.

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"Harry!" Hermione called. "Harry! What did you do with the towels?"

"Who says I did anything with them?" Harry asked her through the bathroom door.

"Well you washed them this morning, and I really need one," she replied. She heard his retreating footsteps then he opened the door and walked in, one hand over his eyes, the other holding out the towel.

"Thanks," Hermione said, laughing. She took the towel and wrapped it around her. "You can open your eyes now."

"Ew, Mione is nakie!" Harry exclaimed childishly.

"Honestly, we're twenty years old, Harry. Grow up," she said, using a drying and straightening spell on her hair.

"Doesn't mean I have to act like I am," he replied with a grin. She hit him playfully then walked out of the bathroom and into her bedroom across the hall.

"Shouldn't you be getting dressed?" she asked her best friend as she pulled out her dress for the wedding.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going," he said, exiting the room. Hermione rolled her eyes and got her clothes on.

The dress was sapphire blue with spaghetti straps, a full skirt, and silver accents. The shoes were silver as well. She walked into Harry's room; he only had his pants on.

"You dress so slowly, the girl is supposed to take all the time," she stated. He turned around and stuck his tongue out at her. His suit was the same blue as her dress, with a white shirt and silver tie. She sat on his bed while he finished dressing then he looked at her.

"You're beautiful, Mione," he said, smiling.

"So are you, Harry," she replied.

"Way to make me feel homosexual," he said sarcastically. Hermione ignored this.

"I can't believe Ron is the one out of the three of us getting married first. I always thought he would be unmarried until he was forty," she said.

"Yeah, I know. I want to ask Ginny, but not now because then it would seem I was doing it just because Ron is getting married," he commented. "Poor Luna," he added as an afterthought.

"Luna is lucky, Harry and you know it. Ron can be kind of, well, difficult at times, but he's a good person."

"Well, I would have seemed even more gay had I said that."

* * *

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­A half hour later, the two apparated from their apartment to the Burrow. A nervous Mrs.Weasley greeted them.

"Hermione dear, you look wonderful, as do you Harry," she said with an anxious smile. "Ron is up in the twins' room and Luna is in Ginny's." And with that, she bustled off. Harry and Hermione went upstairs, Harry going to where Ron was and Hermione going into Ginny's room.

"Hermione!" Luna and Ginny squealed as soon as she opened the door.

"Hey girls," Hermione replied. "How is it going?"

"Luna is more nervous than my mum, for one. And we can't decide what to do with her hair," Ginny informed her. Hermione walked over to where Luna was sitting in front of Ginny's vanity mirror and put her hands on her shoulders.

"Being nervous is expected, but think about how happy you're going to be after the ceremony," she said reassuringly.

"I know, but still, there are so many people here," Luna replied, wringing her hands.

"And they're all people who love and care about you and Ron," Ginny said, as Hermione stepped aside so she could brush Luna's hair. "Now, what to do about this."

"How about we curl it?" Hermione suggested.

"I have never had my hair curly in my life," Luna responded.

"Well then that's what we'll do, it'll be a nice change," Ginny said excitedly. They had just finished curling her hair into ringlets when the door opened and Charlie and Fleur's five-year-old daughter; Stella came flouncing in, and wearing a mini version of the dress Hermione and Ginny were in.

"Hewwo," she said brightly.

"Hi, Stella," all three women said to the little girl.

"Aunties Gin Gin, Loony, Hermy, Grammy told me to come up her to get my hair prettified," Stella announced. Hermione somehow doubted Mrs. Weasley had used the word 'prettified' but didn't comment. Ginny put Stella's hair up into a twist and the girl skipped out of the room happily.

"That child," Ginny said with a sigh.

"She is almost as bad as her mother," Luna said.

"Almost," Ginny stated. "It was Phlegm who came up with those names for us."

"Still using that name for Fleur, then, Gin?" Hermione asked, laughing.

"Well, it still fits."

* * *

Harry entered the room and found Ron and all of his brothers up there.

"Hey," he said, feeling only slightly out of place being the only person in the room out of seven who didn't have red hair. All of the Weasleys, with the exception of Ron, were wearing the same suit as Harry's. Ron's tuxedo was black with a white shirt and blue tie. He was pacing back and fourth.

"He won't sit still," Percy said tiredly.

"Well he's getting married," Charlie said. "It is to be expected."

"I never paced before I got married," Bill countered.

"You eloped," Ron said exasperatedly, looking out the window. "Which is what Luna and I should have done. Look at all those people! It's them that make me nervous."

Harry stopped listening as the eldest Weasley boys tried to relax the youngest and focused his attention to Fred and George who were in the corner, whispering about something.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, approaching them.

"Nothing," George said, hiding something behind his back.

"Nothing at all," Fred added.

"What are you holding, then?" Harry questioned.

"Like we said, Harry," George said mischievously, holding out his now mysteriously empty hands.

"Nothing," Fred finished.

* * *

­­­­­­­­­­­­­Along with Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys, there were over sixty guests at the wedding. Including many of Ron and Luna's Gryffindor and Ravenclaw friends, various relatives, Hogwarts professors, members of the Order and family friends. The ceremony was to take place in the garden behind the Burrow.

The wedding began when Ron walked up the isle; arm in arm with Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Lovegood and escorting them to their seats in the front row. The precession started off with Stella, the flower girl, carefully placing the white petals down the isle. She was so particular and meticulous that she spent ten minutes getting to the front. Next came Ginny, escorted by Fred and George. Then it was Leslie, Luna's older sister, with Percy and Charlie. Harry and Bill then escorted Hermione up the isle. They all took their places on either side of the minister, looking rather uneven with six on the left and three on the right. Mrs. Weasley was already crying.

The music started, being played by Professor McGonagall on a large organ. Mr. Lovegood, a tall, thin man opened the back door and Luna came out, linking her arm with her father's. Mr. Lovegood then proceeded to walk his daughter towards the altar. The minister spoke and Ron and Luna exchanged 'I do' s and he slid the ring onto her finger. The vows were said and the promises sealed with a kiss that was accompanied by a nearly deafening amount of clapping, most of which were thanks to Hagrid and Grawp.

* * *

The reception was light and cheerful. Filled with laughter, dancing and your typical wedding music. The cake was cut (an hour earlier than planned due to Ron's impatience) and champagne glasses clinked as the newlyweds were toasted to countless times.

"Ron," Harry had begun. "That cake is to share, it's not just for you." Ron smiled guiltily, and Harry continued with his best man speech. "Now, to the sappy wedding stuff. You've been my best mate for nearly ten years now. And like I said to Hermione when we were getting ready this morning, no one expected you to be the one who would get married first. Well, first out of the three of us, I mean. You are a very lucky man, Ron, to be marrying Luna. We have yet to determine how lucky she is. Just kidding, she has made a great decision in marrying you. Now, for fear of getting to into this and sounding queer, I toast, to Ron and Luna. May they live happily and have enough kids to give Molly and Arthur a run for their money." Harry hugged the happy couple and made his way to Hermione, who immediately scolded him for not being serious enough.

* * *

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Hermione lay in bed that night, twirling her ring around her finger. It was a silver ring with a ruby. Draco had given it to her years ago. She hadn't seen him since the day after he had given her the ring. The ring had been a promise ring, he'd promised that he would come back from the war against the death eaters and marry her. He had yet to come back.

After the death eater invasion of Hogwarts, full war had broken out. By the end of term, Harry, Ron, Draco and many others had to leave to fight. Hermione couldn't go however. She had to protect her parents, for there had been death threats upon them. On July first, Draco had come to Grimmauld Place and given her the ring, and made his promise. He left for Ireland the next day, and she hadn't seen or heard from him since. It had been over three years now.

Draco had been on a special assignment, since he couldn't go out into open battle with Harry. Many people on the 'good' side still believed that Draco was with the death eaters, and would have killed him if they'd gotten the chance during one of those battles. So Dumbledore had sent Draco on some secret mission type thing and he had yet to return. No one but Dumbledore and Draco had known what the mission was, and Dumbledore had died in the war, along with Remus Lupin, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and a few others. Hermione didn't even know if Draco was still alive. But she felt he was. Something told her that he would keep his promise. Therefore, Hermione never took off his ring. She never had any interest in any other guy, no matter how much her friends tried to get her to start seeing other people. She just couldn't. The love she felt for him, and her feelings of him still being alive kept her from that. More than anything, Hermione wanted Draco to come back. She had yet to tell anyone about her relationship with the blonde Slytherin. She put a charm on the ring so that only she could see it until he came back. She focused on her work as an auror. Ron and Harry were also aurors, and they were often teamed together, forever the golden trio.

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A/N: I know it took me too long to update, I will update within this week (it is now april 8th) if you all review a lot! But I need lots of reviews for that, the more reviews, the sooner i update.


	10. Chapter 11

Disclaimer:characters not mine. plot mine.

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A/N: This chapter is kind of short for a reason. I could only write so much without revealing a certain person's identity. And I just _had _to leave you all hanging. heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee.

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­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Okay, so maybe Hermione _had_ been a little interested in someone besides Draco. But it had been just a one-night thing. The guy she'd been with had a girlfriend too. Though, at the time he and his significant other were 'taking a break'. They were completely back together now. It had been a little over a month ago that it had happened. It was the story that's been told a thousand times. Girl gets drunk. Girl sees hot guy. Girl forgets she has a guy already. Girl does bad things with hot guy.

Basically, Hermione had lost her virginity that night. She regretted it, yet she didn't. It had been what can only be properly described as 'mind-blowing'. She enjoyed it while it lasted and really liked the man she did it with. But she felt guilty. Very, very guilty. She had decided the moment it happened that this was not something that Draco needed to know. That was before. Now, there was likely no way around telling him. Simply put, she was screwed.

It had been a week since Ron and Luna's wedding and they just got back from their honeymoon. They had gone to Hawaii and spent the whole week shagging in their hotel. Or hut. Whatever. Hermione envied them. Being able to do things like that freely with someone. Not having to worry about the outcomes. Having complete comfort with that person. For the first time, Hermione was jealous of Ron.

Hermione lay, stretched out on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She sighed heavily and rolled over to bury her face in her pillow. How could she have let herself do that? Sure, it had felt amazing while it was happening. But the after effects were just horrendous. She had now idea how Draco would take this. She knew it wouldn't be in a positive way, that was for sure.

"Hermione," Harry called, knocking on her door. "I made breakfast, bacon and cheese omelets, your favorite."

"I'm not hungry," she said, her voice muffled due to the pillow.

"Come on, Mione. You haven't left your room since around breakfast yesterday. You need food," Harry said. "Please."

The helpless tone in his voice nearly made her start up with the crying again. She had locked herself in her room at around 11 yesterday morning. For days before that she had been very quiet and had shut Harry out. All he had tried to do was make her feel better and find out what was wrong.

"Fine, I will be out in a minute," she relented.

"Okay, good," Harry said. She could hear the smile in his voice. Hermione got up off her bed, waited until she was sure he was gone, then went across the hall into the bathroom. She splashed her face off with water and brushed her hair, trying to look a little more in control than she was. Taking a deep breath, she walked down the hall and into the kitchen.

"Good morning," Harry said brightly, grinning.

"Morning," she murmured in reply. He dished out her favorite type of omelet onto a plate and sat it in front of her with a cup of coffee.

"How are you doing?" he asked delicately as he fixed his own plate and sat down across from her at the kitchen island that they used to replace the non-existent table.

"Fine," she lied. "And you?"

"I'm okay. I do wish you would talk to me though Mione. I know something is wrong and I just want you to be okay," he said, concern showing in his green eyes.

"I know," she replied, not offering him any inkling of what was going on. They finished eating and did the dishes in silence. She turned to walk away but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. He hugged her and after a moment's hesitation, she wrapped her arms around him. No one spoke as they broke the embrace and she walked back to her room, locking the door again.

The 'incident', as she referred to it in her mind, had not once been mentioned since the morning after. The last words spoken about it were "This never happened," as she still lay in bed with the guy. Ever since, Hermione tried not to think of it. It was bad enough to have a guilty conscience, but to dwell on it was worse. Today however, she thought about it. A lot. She couldn't avoid replaying that night and the morning after over and over. She had actually been crying on and off about it for days now. This was because of a fact that she just couldn't ignore. Hermione Granger was pregnant.

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A/N: I hope you all liked it. Review lots in a short amount of time like you did on the last chapter, and you will get an update quicker. Comprende?


	11. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Yeah yeah yeah. I don't own anything. You know how it is.

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A/N: Okay, we now reveal the father. enjoy.

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­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Harry walked into Hermione's room the next morning. She was still asleep.

"Mione, we have work today," he said softly as he shook her awake.

"What?" she mumbled, opening her eyes and rolling over to face him.

"Work, we need to go to work, it is Monday, that's what we do on Mondays," he stated, sitting down next to her on the bed.

"I'm not going to go today, Harry," she replied.

"Why not?" He questioned.

"Because I don't feel well," she informed him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concern showing in his green eyes.

"I just feel sick Harry, okay?" she said a bit more harshly than she had intended. He looked slightly hurt, so she added, "I'm sorry Harry it's just that…"

"It's just what? You can tell me anything, Hermione, you know that. Tell me what's going on here, please," he requested quietly. She sighed heavily and stared out the window. It was several minutes before she spoke.

"We really should not have ever done that, Harry," she said, avoiding his gaze.

"Done what?" he asked, confused. She stood up and went into the bathroom, then came back out a moment later carrying something Harry couldn't quite identify. She handed whatever it was to him and he looked at it. In his hand were four at-home pregnancy tests, all of which had little blue plus signs on them. He suddenly realized what it was she was saying they shouldn't have done. He looked up at her and saw she was staring out the window again, her eyes shining with tears now.

"How, how long have you known?" he asked almost inaudibly.

"Only a few days," she replied just as quietly. Harry sat there, staring at the blue pluses on the tests in his hand.

"We messed up," he mumbled. She shot him a glare.

"No, really? I thought this was a good thing," she snapped sarcastically. "Gods, Harry. What do we do now? Walk up to Ginny and be like 'oh yeah, by the way Gin, I am pregnant with Harry's baby, hope you don't mind,' or something? This is worse than messed up."

"I'm sorry, Hermione," was the only thing he said. She sighed and fell back onto the pillows.

"Draco is going to hate me," Hermione muttered to herself.

"Draco? As in Malfoy? What does he have to do with anything?" Harry inquired.

"Draco and I were dating in our seventh year and before Dumbledore sent him on that mission he gave me a promise ring saying that one day he will come back and that we'll get married," she explained tiredly.

"You were dating MALFOY?" Harry asked, outraged. "The evil git who made not only Ron's and my lives a living hell, but yours too? That is so _wrong, _Hermione."

"Yes," was all she said in response. A few minutes later, she suggested that he go to work, so he apparated to the Ministry building, leaving her alone.

Hermione didn't actually feel any better now that she had told Harry. If anything, she felt worse. She had no idea what they were going to do about this. She was afraid of Ginny and Draco's responses. Sure, she was twenty years old and perfectly capable of taking care of herself and the baby. That didn't mean she was ready to however. Hermione subconsciously ran her hands over her stomach. She was nowhere near showing yet, but she knew that in another two months or so there would be a noticeable difference. By the sixth month, she wouldn't have any chance of hiding the fact that she was pregnant.

Hermione wished she could have been married before she got pregnant or even lost her virginity. She wanted to be one of those women who could be constantly glowing and happy when she found out she was pregnant. She wanted to spend her times picking out names and buying baby clothes. Going to the doctor and guessing whether it would be a girl or a boy. Instead, she was left worrying constantly about what people would think. She and Harry shouldn't have had sex. If they hadn't, she wouldn't be pregnant. She wouldn't have to be scared of Ginny and Draco hating them both, along with their baby. She got up and walked out to the kitchen. She reached for a carton of ice cream, then thought better of it and made a chicken salad without any dressing instead. If she was going to have this baby, she was going to do it the right way. After she ate, she went and took a long, hot bath.

Soon enough, she heard Harry return while she was sitting in the living room watching the Food Network. He sat down next to her, running his hands through his hair.

"So, what are we going to do about this?" he asked, staring in wonder at the TV as they showed how Twinkies were made.

"I don't know," she replied, switching off the television. She looked over at her best friend, whose face was clouded with worry.

"We'll have to tell everyone eventually, though I don't know if Malfoy will ever even be back to find out…" Harry said.

"He will be back," she stated stubbornly. "I know he will be."

"Okay, Mione. Now, we need to think of how we are going to handle this. Are you, erm, going to keep the baby?" he asked tentatively.

"Of course I am keeping it! Did you think I wouldn't?" Hermione asked, slightly offended.

"No, I was just making sure," he said. "So, what else?"

"I want you in the baby's life, Harry. I want him, or her, to know their father," Hermione said softly.

"Okay, Mione. I will do whatever you want for this baby."

"Thanks, Harry," she said, smiling.

"No problem. This baby is as much mine as yours," Harry replied. "Are you hungry or anything?"

"I had a salad, but you know… morning sickness…" she said vaguely.

"So do you want me to get you anything?" he questioned.

"Could we go out to eat and talk about this?" Hermione inquired.

"Sure, where do you want to go? It's your choice." After pondering it for a while, Hermione decided to go to a burger place down the street. She HAD to have a cheeseburger. There were no alternatives.

"Good?" Harry laughed as she ate as if she'd be starving for a year. She nodded then put the burger down and wiped off her face.

"Yes, very. So, what would two people in this situation normally do?" she questioned.

"Er, well, I suppose they get married or something," Harry said. "But I don't know if that would be the best option for us."

"No, I don't think it would," she agreed, taking a sip of her sweetened iced tea.

"Okay. So we will just keep living together, right? I mean we were going to live together for a few more years anyway, we could just extend it," Harry advised.

"Yeah, cause I don't want it to be like the child has to go back and fourth between us," Hermione agreed.

"So that's settled, we will stay in the same house for as long as necessary. Now, when will we tell everyone about it?"

"Not yet, maybe in a month or so," she replied, going back to her burger.

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A/N: Hope you liked it. Congratulations to those of you who guessed who the daddy was. Review to find out what happens when they tell the Weasleys. keep reviewing lots and lots and I will love you forever my pretties.


	12. Chapter 13

Disclaimer-you know the drill. not mine, yada yada yada.

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A/N: A HUGE thanks to _Sumpin _for inspiring me on this chapter... I had no idea for it when I posted the last one. I am also very proud of myself for how quickly I have been updating and how my chapters have not been microscopic. I hope you like it. Also, this chapter was reposted because I mentioned Lupin as alive and yet I said previously that he was dead. Thanks to Alyanna-Jessica for pointing that out.

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_My gosh, this place is a mess. _Ginny thought to herself immediately after she apparated into her boyfriend's apartment. Or Hermione's apartment that she let Harry live in, that is.

"Hello? Are you guys here? Harry? Mione?" she called into the apartment. Things were all over the place, clothes scattered across the floor, dirty dishes crowding the sink, general disorder. Ginny never thought Hermione would let it get like this. After finding the place empty, she sat down on the sofa. She had told Harry she would be over at two o' clock. And she had been. But where was he? She suddenly regretted not taking her advice and buying a muggle mobile telephone. If she had one, she could have called Harry and asked where the hell he was.

Ginny tapped her fingers on the armrest impatiently. She did _not_ like waiting around. Especially when he said that he would definitely be there. Harry had been getting on her last nerve recently. It bothered him so much that Ron got married before he did and was hinting like mad about them getting married themselves. Before Ron announced his and Luna's engagement, Harry has no thoughts of marriage. And he most certainly did not hint at it. It pissed her off that his only motivation for wanting to marry her was her stupid older brother. A wedding wasn't the only thing Harry had been pushing for lately. For the past two months or so, he had really wanted to have sex with her. At first he seemed perfectly okay with it, but then he seemed a bit annoyed that she didn't want to. He didn't try to force her into it, and he completely agreed to wait until marriage, but he still seemed like waiting was not something he liked doing.

After he had been leaning towards that idea for about a month, she had sort of snapped at him. Ginny had yelled saying that he couldn't possibly love her since he didn't want to wait for her. He stormed out and went somewhere, she'd never found out where. He came back to her house the next day and apologized. After that, he seemed to push the sex idea a little less.

* * *

"Come on, Mione, I'm already late," Harry whined. They had already been at the grocery store for a good two hours now. He had figured he would be home in time for Ginny. Apparently, pregnant women are very picky about their food.

"Late for what?" she asked, comparing two brands of orange juice. This was her new addiction- orange juice.

"I told you, Ginny was coming over at two, it's two-thirty," he said, relieved as she picked a carton of juice and put it in their shopping cart.

"She can wait a few more minutes, it won't be the end of the world," Hermione said lackadaisically. (A/N: 'lackadaisically' is a real word and it means 'carelessly'.)

"To her it is," Harry muttered. His girlfriend has been particularly testy of late. If he was anything but exactly on time, she got on his case. The last time she had really gone of on him was the day he had gotten Hermione pregnant. He suggested the topic of sex to Gin and she just snapped. She started making wild accusations and he left. When he got back to the apartment, Hermione was getting ready for a party some of their coworkers were having. One that he had planned to skip to be with Ginny, now he decided to go to get his mind off of her. They got to the party when it was in mid-swing and had a great time. Well, it had seemed great. The next day they had major hangovers and extremely guilty consciences.

As he thought of that night, Harry looked over at Hermione who was now inspecting a dozen eggs. She was around two months pregnant now and had only the slightest curve to her abdomen.

"Does this one look normal to you?" she asked, holding one of the eggs up. "It seems a bit off to me."

"Well, it doesn't look exactly symmetrical," he said, wondering if all expecting women were like this.

"You're right, this one is bad," she said, putting it back and picking up another carton of them. Harry sighed and leaned against the cart. Suddenly he felt like maybe what Ginny needed was some waiting time. God knows he waited enough for her all the time. Not even just with the sex, but everything. She had to have _her time. _He could have met with her yesterday, but no, she made him wait. And for what reason? The fact that she _had_ to go out and buy a new pair of shoes. He wouldn't have minded even going with her, but no. It was a _girl thing _and so he couldn't go. Harry followed Hermione around for another twenty minutes, occasionally giving his opinion on things that seemed very frivolous to him, but made all the difference in the world to her.

Hermione wondered constantly why Harry put up with her strange tendencies. He did seem a little confused as to why she cared about the difference between things that seemingly lacked variation. She knew however, that these minor details were important. If she didn't spend so much time contemplating over things like this, she would be forced to think about the news she had gotten from Mr. Weasley a week before. He had told her that they now had evidence that Draco hadn't made it through his assignment. She had cried for a few days, with Harry trying as hard as he could to make her feel better. Eventually, she decided to let go and concentrated on other things. She didn't know what she would have done without Harry there. He had been so supportive of her. One day, he had brought home over a dozen books about pregnancy and spent all his free time reading them. Hermione hadn't found them as interesting and hadn't looked at them. She depended on Harry to take care of the technical parts of this. _Wow, things are backwards. _Hermione thought. Normally, she was the one with all the facts and figures, taking care of him. Now it was his turn.

They finally checked out of the store and drove home. By the time they got back, it was three and Ginny had left. Harry found a note on the kitchen table.

_Harry,_

_Where the hell were you? You knew I would be coming. Why must you do this?_

_Ginny_

He sighed and crumpled up the note then tossed it in the trash. He was not in the mood for her dramatics right now. He helped Hermione put away all the stuff they had just brought, and then went to take a shower. When he came out, she was sitting on the couch reading a book.

"What are you reading?" he asked, sitting down next to her.

"Baby name book," she said distractedly.

"Any ideas yet?"

"Nope."

They sat in silence for several minutes before she put the book down. He looked at her and could hardly stand how sad she looked. He knew what Mr. Weasley had told her about Draco was still troubling her.

"So, Mione, how you doing with everything?" he asked cautiously. He seemed to always be cautious around her recently, due to her mood swing tendencies.

"Oh, Harry," she sighed, leaning against his shoulder. "I just can't believe that he won't be coming back. I mean, I knew what he was doing was dangerous but I just always thought- I always felt that he would come home. But now he's not and I just don't know how to deal with this at all."

"I know, I know," he said, rubbing her back. And he did know, which is probably why Hermione felt better talking to him about it. Harry knew as well as, and often better than, anyone what it felt like to lose someone close to you. "It'll take time."

"Yes, but I want it to not have happened. I would rather he found out about the baby and never spoke to me again, so long as he was alive. That's probably why this even happened to him, because I was so horrible," she said as she began crying.

"You're not horrible and what happened to Mal- Draco was not your fault. You're human, Hermione, you made a mistake. Everyone does every now and then."

"But this is a big mistake. Huge. Ginormous," she said, beginning to ramble. Harry knew it wasn't good when she started saying made up words like 'ginormous'.

"Well I made the same mistake as you did, and many other people have too. It doesn't make you a bad person. It just means you messed up, and at least you know you won't do that again," he said, hugging her.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she agreed grudgingly.

"When haven't I been?" he inquired cheekily. She smiled and play-punched him.

"I don't know what I would do without you Harry, you hold me together," she said.

"Well, I will always be here," he replied. She couldn't help but remember the last time she has heard that. Draco had said that the night he gave her the ring. A ring which, although he was gone, she still never took off.

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A/N: Okay, tell me what you think. REVIEWS! Please leave me reviews, my Lovelies (thanks to my dearest RCG for that word). I wasn't sure how me telling more about Harry and Ginny, though I haven't done that before would go over, so please tell me what you thought of that. Also, no, there will not be as much on their thoughts and opinions in all chapters. Remember, Lovelies: MORE REVIEWS:FASTER UPDATES.

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READ: Oh, wait wait wait wait wait! Okay, I forgot to mention, I am going to give one of my Lovelies (all you sweet reviewers) a chance to have a guest role in my story here. Not a major one, just a mentioning and brief conversation in an upcoming chapter. If you are interested in guest starring, email me at phazed71377 at yahoo dot com. Just fill in the proper punctuation. 


	13. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. you know. i dont own anything but the plot and the baby.

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A/N: This will NOT become a Harry/Hermione story, I assure you. This would have been up yesterday, but Fan Fiction was being weird and wasn't letting anyone do anything.

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"Ginny, why are you back so early?" Mrs. Weasley asked her daughter as she stormed into the house, slamming the door.

"Because he didn't show up," she said through gritted teeth and heading for the stairs.

"I'm sure there's a good reason," her mother called after her. Ginny got to her bedroom, once again slammed the door and crashed down on her bed.

"Why is he such a jackass?" she asked herself. She sighed and thought about what had happened.

She had been waiting for about forty-five minutes when she got up and started wandering around. As she did so, she noticed some things she hadn't before. Things like a large stack of books sitting on the floor next to Harry's bed. She picked up the top one and read: "What to Expect When You're Expecting". _What the bloody hell?_ She had no idea what to think of this. After looking at the other books, she also found some with the titles of "Expectant Father: Facts, Tips and Advice For Dads-to-be" "Your Pregnancy Week by Week" and "The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy". She would have thrown the books across the room, but she couldn't since they had pictures of babies and pregnant women all over them. She put them back how she found them and went into Hermione's room. In here, she didn't find any mother or father-to-be books, just the usual things that had nothing to do with pregnancy. So it definitely wasn't Hermione who was pregnant, she would be researching her arse off if she were. And obviously Harry wasn't pregnant; she didn't need to have sex with him to know about the presence of his manly parts. By this point, Ginny was too mad at him to stay in his empty apartment. So she had apparated back to the Burrow.

Rolling over, Ginny buried her face into the pillow and screamed. There was no acceptable reason for him to have those books, or for him to not meet her in his own apartment. He was _so _going to get it for this.

* * *

Harry slammed down the phone. "Still not answering," he reported to Hermione who was watching him worriedly. He had been trying to call the new phone they had gotten at the Burrow, but no one had answered. Ginny hadn't talked to him since the morning before she had come over while he and Hermione were at the store.

"Maybe," Hermione said, standing up and walking over to him. "Maybe they just are not there."

"Oh and I suppose they've been gone for the past eight days? Because that's how long it's been since someone answered," he said, frustrated.

"Perhaps there is something wrong with their telephone," she suggested. He rolled his eyes and left, going into the kitchen. He grabbed a can of soda and poured some orange juice to her. He offered it to her but she declined.

"Orange juice is repulsive," she said, turning away from the glass.

"Okay," he replied, thinking about how much orange juice they had left from her brief fixation with it that he would end up having to drink. "What would you like?"

"A strawberry milkshake," she replied matter-of-factly.

"A strawberry milkshake," he repeated. "Okay." Harry went back into the kitchen, poured out the orange juice that, he too, found repulsive, and pulled out some ice cream, milk and berries. Once he had made the milkshake, he took it out to her. "Better?"

"Yes, thank you, Harry," she said with a huge grin. He smiled back and sat down across from her. Her morning sickness had seemed to fade away and she was now much more happy, she was normally in good moods. He thought about how she was carrying his baby, and how much he loved them both. Yes, he loved Hermione, but not romantically of course. That was saved for Ginny, no matter how much of an irritating drama queen she may have been some times. He knew it must be hard for her, losing Malfoy like that. Harry had never loved someone, who died, in _that _way. Ginny may have gotten on his nerves from time to time, but he still wouldn't know what to do if that happened to her.

As she watched him, Hermione wondered what Harry was thinking about. She always did. He seemed so lost in thought sometimes that she wished she could read his mind to find out what he was thinking. He was being so very wonderful about all of this. She knew that he would make a great father. _Her _parenting skills however, she wasn't so sure about. Harry had been reading all those books, so he was now completely filled with baby and pregnancy facts. Sometimes, he would just randomly say something like how lemon and peppermint help with morning sickness. Hermione was determined she would sit down and read the pregnancy books as well. She didn't want to be unknowing of all those things. For the moment though, she still needed to come up with some names. She picked up the two baby name books she had and summoned over Harry.

"So whose last name are we using?" he asked her. "Granger or Potter?"

"Potter," Hermione replied with conviction.

"Are you sure?" he inquired.

"Of course, a child normally takes their father's last name. Now, first and middle names," she said, handing him a book and opening the other one. "Hey Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"I think we should name it James if it's a boy. After you and your father," Hermione suggested. "And don't even argue me naming this baby after you because I want to."

"Okay, but I am still going to think of it as naming him after my father, not me," Harry informed her.

"James Potter. We need a middle name," she said. They continued going back and fourth over the possible names for their baby. In the end they decided on one if it was a boy and another if it was a girl.

* * *

Ginny went up to the front door of the apartment and knocked. Harry answered the door.

"Oh, uh, hey Gin," he said, letting her inside.

"Harry," she said stiffly. "Something you wish to tell me?"

"Um, should there be?" he asked her nervously.

"Yes," she replied simply, offering up no explanation for what he should be telling her.

"Well, um, I am sorry for not showing up the other day. You see, Hermione took me grocery shopping and she took forever. I tried to call you but I think there's something wrong with the phone..." he rambled.

"There's nothing wrong with the phone," she said heavily. "I just didn't answer."

"Oh, okay then," he stated unsurely.

"Want to explain the pregnancy books that I found when you didn't meet me here?" she asked bluntly.

"Do I have to?" he asked. This is not how he had wanted her to find out.

"Yes, you do Harry. Now, whom did you impregnate?" she inquired.

"What makes you think that I got anyone pregnant? Maybe there is some other reason. Maybe a friend of mine is having a baby so I am just reading up on the subject," he suggested.

"Yeah, right. Cut the crap, Harry and just tell me," she said testily.

"Okay, I got someone pregnant. Go ahead, scream, yell, cry, hex, curse, whatever. Just go on," he said, sitting down and running a hand through his hair.

"Who is she?" Ginny asked. "Who it is that is having your child?"

"Hermione."

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"What to Expect When You're Expecting" Heidi Murkoff/Paperback/Workman Publishing Company, Inc./February2002

"Expectant Father: Facts, Tips and Advice For Dads-to-be" Armin A. Brott/Paperback/Abbeville Press, Incorporated/April2001

"Your Pregnancy Week by Week" Glade Curtis/Paperback/Da Capo Press/January2004

"The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy" Vicki Lovine/Paperback/Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group/October1995

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A/N: Well, I hope that you liked it. Review PLEASE, my lovelies andmy pretties and my pretty lovelies (RCG). There will be two of you wonderful readers guest starring in the next chapter. These two people have already been decided. REVIEW AND YOU WILL GET AN UPDATE SOON. I am already half done with the next chapter... all I need is the incentive of reviews to make me finish it. 


	14. Chapter 15

A/N: OH MY GOSHNESS! I FINISHED IT! It took me so long to get the motivation to write all this, let alone the ideas for what to write. I have to thank JeanetteWilliamson for leaving me a ginormous amount of reviews today, making me feel obligated to add another chapter for her to read. I really hope you all enjoy this chapter. Once I started on it, I really got on a roll and wrote it quickly. Hopefully, more chapters to this and my other stories will come as easily.

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I would like to dedicate this chapter to one of my most faithful reviewers who inspired me to strive to get this up this week. Thanks, piu-mosso/Steph!

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Now, without further ado, please enjoy!

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When Ginny did nothing but blink excessively and look incredulous, Harry continued.

"It isn't like we planned it, Gin," he said quickly without pause. "We were both really tipsy and we know we shouldn't have had sex at all and being drunk isn't and excuse and if we could go back it would have never happened and it was when you and I were kind of on a break and I am really really so sorry."

"How far along is she?" Ginny asked.

"About two and half months. She got pregnant that night you and I were fighting over sex and you said maybe we shouldn't be together and then I left… well I went to a party with her and this is what happened," he explained in one breath. Ginny sighed and turned to the door.

"I have to go," she said, and with that, she left. Harry leaned back onto the sofa. Had it not been just yesterday that she was completely ignoring him? Now she comes storming in here asking questions based on things she found while snooping around his bedroom. Talk about invasion of privacy. He knew that within hours all of the Weasleys would know. He could not even begin to think about their reactions.

Hermione came home about an hour later from a class Harry suggested that she go to. It had been a bunch of women talking about how even though they didn't mean to get pregnant; something good came out of it. She supposed it was meant to have been motivational, but she had just been bored. She found Harry lying on the sofa staring blankly at the ceiling.

"You okay?" she asked him, sitting down next to him.

"Ginny hates me."

"You told her?"

"Yeah, she came by today."

"Wow, Harry. I'm sorry," Hermione whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder. He remained silent but put his arm around her shoulders.

"So am I, Mione," he replied after several minutes.

"Harry can you get that?" Hermione called from her bedroom when she heard the doorbell ring, as she got dressed. She heard the door open and could vaguely hear Harry's deep voice greet the visitor. He was answered with an, if possible, even deeper voice. Listening closely, she managed to make out a few words.

"Didn't expect…she's…bedroom…" About thirty seconds later, Harry walked into her room.

"I could have been naked you know," Hermione said, but he ignored her. "Who was at the door?"

"Uh…Mione…I think you should come out to see for yourself," Harry replied.

"Did one of the Weasleys decide to come make amends?" Ever since Ginny had found out about Harry and Hermione's baby, none of the Weasley family had spoken to either of them. It had been four months since they'd seen any of their red-haired extended family.

"No, it's not a Weasley," he said as she finished getting dressed. Hermione gave him a confused look but grabbed his wrist and headed out to the living room. Stopping dead in her tracks upon seeing their visitor, Hermione had to use all the self-control she had not to run up and jump on him.

"Hermione," Draco Malfoy said, his eyes glued to her ever-growing midsection. "Hello. I see you've been doing…well." A string of profanities spilled uncharacteristically from her mouth. She walked cautiously toward him, not noticing when Harry inconspicuously disappeared into the kitchen. _I can't just pretend my bulging stomach isn't there. _

"Yes, I'm pregnant, Draco. It's Harry's child. We had sex one time when we were drunk, and while that does not excuse our irresponsible behavior, it's the only reasoning I have. He and I are not involved romantically. We are still just friends with the slight change of him fathering my child," she said with calmness that she didn't feel. Slowly, her tone became more desperate, more apologetic. "I'm really sorry, Draco. I know I don't deserve you, but I am still more than ecstatic that you've come back. I was told you were dead." Her last sentence was whispered so quietly that he had to lean in to hear her.

Draco closed his eyes and didn't say anything. After several moments of anxious silence, he closed the remaining three feet between them and kissed her hard on the lips. He carefully guided her so that they were sitting on the sofa, never taking his lips from hers. _There is something wrong here, _she thought nervously, _he should be mad._

The kissing continued for quite sometime. Hearing nothing, Harry stuck his head out of the kitchen to make sure everything was all right. _What in hell is going on? _he asked himself.

"Don't think this means I'm not upset," Draco murmured as he moved to brush his lips over her neck. Enjoying the return of his touch to much to respond, she simply started running her hands through his hair, which was now nearly down to his shoulders. Feeling a sudden, tiny blow against the inside of her stomach, Hermione jerked back. Her hands instinctively flashed to her abdomen. "Is something wrong?" Draco asked, looking down at her rounded belly uneasily.

"I think the baby just kicked me," she said, a humorless laugh escaping her lips.

"Is it a boy or girl?" he asked her quietly.

She recalled the ultrasound she'd had the week before. "A girl. We don't know what to name her yet."

"May I?" he inquired, motioning toward her stomach. She nodded and he carefully slid her shirt up, lightly running his fingers over her skin. Hermione watched his expression instead of his actions and recognized the same wonder and amazement she'd seen in Harry's face many times before.

"Draco, I'm sorry about this. Harry and I really didn't intend for this to happen and I'd understand if you acted like the Weasleys and never spoke to me again."

"To be honest, the only things that are keeping me from getting angry is that I've really missed you Hermione and my mother." His hands stilled on her tummy and his eyes met hers. If possible, they were even more silver than they had been the last time she'd seen him.

"Your mother?" she asked him cautiously.

"Yeah. When I was in my fifth year she got pregnant with some traveling merchant's child. Said my father wasn't around enough to 'satisfy her needs'" Draco grimaced. "Lucius got very upset and beat her, killing the baby."

"You wouldn't do that to me Draco, no matter how angry you were," she replied surely.

"You're right. I wouldn't. But I still don't want to get mad at you. It isn't good for you or the baby to have that stress and I can kind of understand what happened." His stare became more concentrated. "Though that doesn't mean I'm okay with it."

"This is a better response than I expected. Thank you," she said softly.

"Expected? You thought I was dead."

"Yes, but I continued to hope that it wasn't true. I knew it was unlikely that you would come back, but I'd prefer you coming back and getting angry than never being able to see you again," she answered honestly. Draco nodded and another silence -this one more comfortable than the others- ensued. Finding this to be a good time to approach the two, Harry walked out into the living room and sat down on a chair adjacent to them.

"Potter," Draco acknowledged curtly.

"Malfoy." Hermione's eyes flashed tensely between the two men. They both sat stiffly, not quite glaring at one another, but not beaming with joy either. After many minutes had passed, the blonde pulled her shirt back over her stomach and stood up.

"I should be going. I need to meet with some members of the order." He leaned down and kissed Hermione on the forehead.

"Will you be coming back?" she inquired, trying to keep the desperation she felt from coloring her voice.

"Yes, but probably not today," he said shortly. In an instant he was at the door. With a quick, sad glance back at her, he left. The sound of the front door shutting reverberated through the silence.

"That went well," Harry said hesitantly.

"I'm not sure if that was well or not, Harry. I think I might have preferred a lot of yelling. Angry would have been better than him trying to hide his sadness and disappointment." Harry didn't answer. Instead, he moved next to her and held her against him as the tears began to fall.

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A/N:WHOOSH! That was a decently long one too! PLEASE review! I am very motivated by reviews as you can tell by the thank-you's I did in the author's note at the beginning. More reviews, the more likely I am to tell you more about Draco's weird behavior. Is he really not upset? Or is something else going on? Hmmmmm...


	15. Chapter 16

A/N: I WANT AN EDITOR (or I suppose some people call them 'beta'...?). If you are good with grammar (and by good, I mean obnoxiously obsessive over it), are on the computer a lot and would be of assistance if I asked you for some ideas for a chapter when I get stuck on a story, then please contact me. Email is preferable, so phazed71377 at yahoo dot com. There will be a test type deal for it, so be prepared. I am typically very good with grammar and spelling, so there shouldn't be too much work involved, but you have to be very good at it. Offer ends on April 23, possibly sooner if I find someone really good before then.

I was SOO HAPPY for myself for writing this so soon. I hadn't anticipated coming up with something to write a whole chapter about for another couple days. But I got started with a tiny idea and it somehow blossomed into a plot I really like. I really hope you enjoy because this is one of my favorite ideas I've had for this story.

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Disclaimer: I wish.

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Draco didn't return the next day. Or the day after that. Hermione worried constantly, and had begun to think that she had made him up in her mind. When she voiced these concerns to Harry, he just looked at her sadly and hugged her.

One morning, Hermione woke up early and quickly got dressed. She went in to Harry's room to stick a post-it that explained where she was going onto his head, but found he was awake.

"What are you doing up so early?" She walked over to where he was standing by the window.

"I could ask you the same. And why are you dressed already?" he inquired of her.

"I was going to make a quick trip to Grimmauld Place," Hermione said, trying to make it sound as insignificant as possible.

"I'll go with you then, I need to get an update anyway," Harry replied, already heading over to his chest of drawers to pick out some clothes.

"Do you have to?" she asked, giving up on trying to make it sound like just an innocent little visit.

"Do you really think he'll be there?" he questioned. They both knew who 'he' was.

"It's worth a shot, but why do you want to come? If his mood changes and he gets angry then he won't be happy with you." She dropped down on his bed, her hands automatically going to her large stomach.

"But he won't be happy with you either, and I'm not leaving you alone with an angry Malfoy," he said defensively. "I'm not going to give him a chance to hurt you or our baby." She did not miss the emphasis Harry put on the word "baby".

"Are you upset that he came back?" she asked quietly.

"I'm suspicious of how he acted, and I'm concerned about how he's really going to handle this, but I am happy for _you_. I know how glad I would be if Ginny started talking to me again, so I know you're happy about his return. And it makes me happy when you're happy." Harry was dressed now, and he sat down next to her, entwining his fingers with hers.

"But you seem like you're bothered that he's intruding on our weird little psuedo-family thing," Hermione said, wondering why she couldn't have made that sound any more intelligent.

"Well, I was kind of getting used to how things were turning out. Obviously, Ginny and Draco being out of our lives wasn't the most ideal, but we were making it work. While I'm, in a weird kind of way, glad that he's alive and all, it's just now we have to reevaluate everything," he replied honestly.

"I know, and I'm sorry that he had to come in just as you were getting comfortable with things, but that's just the way it worked out, honey. When life gives you oranges, make orange juice," she said decisively.

"Don't you mean lemons and lemonade?"

"No. I mean oranges. I don't like lemons, or lemonade for that matter."

"Don't tell me you're on one of your orange juice kicks again," Harry laughed. "We could have sustained a small third-world country with how much you made me buy last time."

"Oh be quiet, Harry," she said with a smile as she slowly worked her way into a sitting position. "So, are we going to go hunt down some Slytherin, or what?"

* * *

"Draco? As in Malfoy?" Tonks asked incredulously when Harry and Hermione explained their surprise visit to Grimmauld Place.

"Yeah, he came by our apartment the other day," Hermione said, beginning to believe even more that he was just her imagination.

"Sweetie," Tonks said, placing a hand on her arm. "Draco Malfoy was reported dead months ago."

"But he came back, you guys were wrong about that," she said as Tonks led her over to sit on the sofa.  
"No, we weren't. No one told you this before, but we found his body, Hermione." Tonks was looking at Hermione curiously, concern shining in her eyes. Hermione shook her head determinedly.

"I saw him too, Tonks. He was there, as real as we are," Harry tried to convince her. _What is going on here? _Harry wondered, getting the feeling that the Order was keeping things from them. Tonks bit her lip unsurely. Then, they heard the front door open and close.

"That'll be Arthur," Tonks said standing up. "He just got back from an assignment he's been on for the past five months. 'Scuse me." She hurried off to meet him in the front room.

"Wait, did you know he'd been gone?" Hermione asked of Harry.

"No, I didn't," he responded.

"Then maybe he doesn't know about you and me and the baby," she replied.

After Ginny had left their apartment, angry and hurt, a little over four months earlier, Harry and Hermione hadn't heard a word from any of the Weasleys. They had always assumed that Ginny had told them everything and the whole family was too upset to speak to them. But if Arthur hadn't been around to find out about it….

All the other members of the Order knew about the baby. Even if some of them were also a little bothered by how it all came about, it was only the Weasleys that cut off communication.

"He's going for a bit of a rest," Tonks reported, returning to the small den-like room they were in.

"Can I ask you a question?" Hermione inquired.

"Anything."

"Does Mr. Weasley know about the baby?" She motioned to her stomach that seemed to be getting larger by the day.

"No, he doesn't. Actually, only Ginny and Ron know," Tonks informed them.

Harry spoke up. "Then why aren't all the other Weasleys talking to us?"

"Ginny and Ron were both upset and told them not to, without giving reason. Molly wanted to talk to you about it, but the two of them begged her not to and she's been very preoccupied with Arthur gone."

_Wow, _Hermione thought. _This is new information. So all of the Weasley family doesn't hate us, jus the two that were previously my best friends._

"Molly should be arriving shortly to greet her husband if you would like to talk to her," Tonks added as an afterthought. Hermione looked over at Harry indecisively and he took her hand in his.

"Yeah, we should talk to her," he said confidently. Molly arrived twenty minutes later. Her eyes became the size of golf balls when she first saw Hermione. Despite the sudden change in the size of the twenty-two-year-old Hermione's stomach, Mrs. Weasley hugged her and Harry enthusiastically.

"Hermione, dear, you certainly have changed." Molly smiled at her.

"Yeah," she answered. "About that. The reason Ron and Ginny are so upset with us is that one day when Ginny and Harry had gotten into a fight and been on a bit of a break, he and I got in a little over our heads, and here I am pregnant five months later."

"Well that explains it," Molly said, still smiling. "Well, dear, we all make our mistakes." Harry and Hermione exchanged confused glances; both wondering why she wasn't avenging the pain the two had caused her only daughter. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to go visit with Arthur. I'll be sure to tell him the good news." With that and a couple more quick hugs, she hastened up the stairs.

"That was…unexpected," Hermione said after a moment, sitting down again.

"Certainly was," Harry agreed. They sat there for a while, her head on his shoulder, trying to figure out what was going on with the complacent reactions of Mrs. Weasley and Draco. If Draco had ever been there, that is. "Do you get the feeling that they're hiding something from us?"

"Yeah, actually I do. Want to go snoop around a bit?" Hermione asked, a child-like mischievous grin crossing her face. Harry took her sudden personality change- normal Hermione would never go looking around someone else's house/secret organization headquarters like that- as an effect of the pregnancy.

"Sure," Harry agreed, taking her hand and pulling her up off the squashy sofa. They quietly proceeded upstairs, glad that Tonks had left, leaving them with only Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to worry about. They looked in every room; carefully tiptoeing past the one they heard Molly and Arthur's voices come from. Without much fruits to their labor, they reached the attic room. There was no light coming from around the doorframe, and Harry glanced over at Hermione as he opened the door. They both peeked in, and the room was pitch black.

They walked in cautiously as Harry pulled out his wand and muttered "Lumos." With the added light, as little as it may have been, they could make out a bed in the far corner with a figure sleeping in it. Walking ahead of Hermione, Harry carefully approached the bed. He moved a pillow from atop the person's head and revealed white-blonde hair.

* * *

A/N:Yipee! That was longer than the last one! Good, wasn't it! Please review and tell me if you like what I did with it. Also, don't forget about the editor thing! I adore you, my lovelies!


	16. Chapter 17

A/N: I know it's been forever. Sorry. I hope you enjoy it, though.

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Disclaimer- if I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be writing fanfictions, now would I?

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Recognizing the back of Draco's head, Hermione rushed over. Harry, however, grabbed her arm to stop her before she could launch herself at him.

"We don't know what is going on here," Harry whispered. "If that is indeed Malfoy, we still don't know why everyone is saying he's dead or why he acted the way he did the other day. He obviously isn't dead, I can see him breathing, but we need to find out what's going on before you jump on him."

When Hermione said nothing and took another step toward the bed, he restrained her again. "Don't forget all your auror training," he warned her. Hermione took a deep breath and tried to do as he said. She knew he was right and that it wasn't a smart choice to just lunge at the blonde. Maintaining her composure, she went backward several steps before speaking.

"What do you propose we do then," she asked him quietly.

"We go to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and ask them what the bloody hell is going on." Harry grinned. "Perhaps not in those words, however." Silently, they left the room, Hermione sneaking one last look back at Draco. They went back down to the room they'd heard the voices coming from.

"What, exactly, is Draco doing sleeping upstairs when Tonks just told us that he's dead?" Hermione demanded, throwing the door open.

"Oh, Arthur, I meant to tell you," Mrs. Weasley smiled. "Hermione and Harry have found themselves in a family way."

"Please don't change the subject," Hermione said irritably. "Just tell us what's going on here."

"Don't be angry," Mr. Weasley said, walking toward the young woman.

"Angry? Oh trust me, this is not angry," Harry said quietly. Hermione shot him a glare. "We would just like to know why we were told he was dead when he is most obviously quite alive."

"We're protecting him," Mr. Weasley said tiredly, taking off his glasses and cleaning them on his shirt.

Mrs. Weasley continued the explanation. "If the death eaters knew he was alive, they would hunt him down, they wouldn't stop until they killed him. He's top on their list of those to kill, second only to you, Harry." She glanced at Harry apologetically. "He wasn't supposed to stop at your apartment, we told him to come straight here. Then, we had to pretend with you that he was dead. The fewer that know he's alive, the better."

Without waiting for more, Hermione turned and went back up to the attic room as quickly as she could. The door swung open and banged loudly against the wall, waking Draco. Hermione walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"You shouldn't be here," he said to her, his eyes not completely open.

"I don't care," she replied stubbornly.

"Same old Mione," he said quietly as he sat up next to her, carefully keeping the blanket around his waist. Draco placed his arm cautiously around her and she leaned her head over onto his shoulder. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her. "I didn't know they wouldn't let me see you."

"It's not your fault," she replied, noticing for the first time how much thinner he was than he had been before he'd left. She lightly ran her fingers over his cheek, his cheekbone much more prominent than it used to be.

"You look like you haven't eaten in weeks," she commented, her worries about him multiplying by the second. "Where were you all this time?"

"It will all be told at the meeting this evening," came a voice from the doorway. Hermione and Draco looked around, coming face to face with their old potions master.

"Snape? What are _you_ doing here?" Draco asked.

"I am a member of the Order, you stupid boy. I just arrived here and was instructed to inform the two of you not to discuss Order matters until our meeting later today." He glanced at Hermione's stomach. "But of course, it seems to me that you two have got some other pressing matters to deal with." He left the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Snape is in the Order? I thought he was a death eater," Draco muttered, more to himself than Hermione.

"Well, everyone thought that about you too, didn't they?"

* * *

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley along with Draco, Harry and Hermione had been in the sitting room, holding an awkward conversation about Hermione's pregnancy. Snape had disappeared into a back room, claiming to have paperwork to complete before the meeting began. There came a loud thump from the ceiling, accompanied by muffled voices. All four of them looked upwards, as if doing so would show them who had arrived. Mrs. Weasley stood. 

"I'll just go and greet them," she said before bustling off up the stairs.

"I s'pose they came by floo," Mr. Weasley said, glancing back up at the ceiling. Out of everyone they had told, Mr. Weasley had been the only one who seemed to truly understand Hermione's pregnancy. While he was indeed upset due to the pain it had caused Ginny, he held nothing against Harry or Hermione.

"What are _they_ doing here?" came a scathing voice from behind the sofa they had been sitting on. Harry turned around to see Ron, the one who had spoken, and Ginny with Mrs. Weasley.

"Now, son, they have every right to be here," said Mr. Weasley, attempting to calm everyone down. Ginny managed an angry glare in Harry's general direction before running back up the stairs. Draco took Hermione's hand, seeing how upset she was by the appearance of the youngest Weasleys.

"The nerve you have to show up here!" Ron yelled. Harry stood up and walked over to him. "After what you did to Ginny, you're lucky to still be alive!" Ron pulled out his wand, aiming it at Harry's chest. Harry took out his wand as well, pointing it at Ron as he made his way to the staircase.

"Boys! Stop it!" Mrs. Weasley demanded, they paid her no mind. Ron followed Harry, but Mr. Weasley rose and held him back. Harry walked upstairs, leaving his furious ex-best friend behind.

He went directly to the room Ginny always used to stay in, back when they were kids. He knocked on the door and, hearing no reply, cautiously opened it. Indeed, there she was, lying face down on her bed, seemingly crying.

"Ginny," he said softly, crossing the room and sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Get out," she said angrily into the pillow. She kicked him, but he ignored it.

"Gin, I'm sorry, for everything. I regret what I did, but I can't change it now. Hermione is having this baby and that's that. But I would hate if things were like this between you and me for the rest of our lives."

"Well too damned bad, Harry," Ginny said, sitting up. "What are you expecting me to do? Just accept it and get back together with you and be that child's auntie? No, it's not going to happen."

"That isn't what I'm asking. I would never expect you to be with me again, I don't deserve that. I just don't want you to hate me," he said quietly, staring into her brown eyes, remembering how things had been before this whole thing. He missed her smiling and laughing, he missed making her happy. Now, all he did was upset her.

"Well it's a bit late for that, now isn't it. Maybe, if you hadn't gone and knocked Hermione up, we wouldn't be having this problem."

"You and I weren't even together when I had sex with her!" Harry said, feeling as if his very blood was beginning to boil within his veins.

"No, I guess we weren't, Harry, but we were together a couple days later! And you didn't think it was important enough to tell me that you had gotten her pregnant," Ginny screamed in his face, but he didn't back away.

"I didn't know she was pregnant then! I didn't know for a while, Gin. I thought it had just been a one-night thing; we didn't even mention it again until she told me she was having a baby. I realize I should have told you, but I didn't want you to get mad at me over nothing," he replied, trying very hard not to yell back at her.

"Over nothing? Harry, having sex with Hermione wasn't nothing. It got her pregnant! That sounds like something to me. And your idea of not telling me so I didn't get mad didn't work out so well either, now did it? I would have been less mad if you'd have just told me from the start," her voice lowered until it was almost inaudible. "If you had just told me, I would have been angry, yes. But I would have gotten over it. I could have dealt with it, if only you hadn't tried to hide it from me."

Harry stared at her. "I'm sorry, Ginny, for doing this to you." With that, he quickly kissed her forehead then left, closing the door behind him.

* * *

Upon arriving downstairs, Harry found Draco and Ron rolling on the floor, throwing punches like they didn't know any magic at all. Hermione had her face buried in her hands and Mr. Weasley was holding Mrs. Weasley back from them. "It's better that they get some frustrations out now, Molly," he said. Upon noticing Harry's return, Ron leapt up at him, his fist coming in sharp contact with the left side of Harry's face. 

"Ron, stop," Harry said, not hitting back but simply grabbing Ron's arms and pinning them behind his back. "Hermione and I know you're mad, but beating up Draco won't help, first off. Secondly, beating me won't do anything either, except make Hermione's life worse and despite this whole situation, I know you wouldn't want that."

"Malfoy," Ron spit out, "Started hitting me first."

"He did Harry," Hermione said quietly as Draco sat beside her. Harry let go of Ron, causing him to fall over.

"Just stop," Harry said, staring at Ron and Draco. At just that moment, they heard, once again, the sounds of people arriving in the fireplace. Ron glared at them all before heading upstairs to see who else had arrived.

Within the next half hour, Luna, George, Fred, Professor McGonagall and many others arrived. Luna, though she was married to Ron and rightfully should be angry, had no hard feelings toward Harry or Hermione. She herself was pregnant, though not as far along as Hermione, and the two women retired to the kitchen to talk.

Draco, still disliked by many of these Gryffindor alumni, claimed he needed to help Snape with his papers and disappeared upstairs. Fred and George seemed to avoid Harry at first, but after a couple rounds of drinks, the three were talking like old friends.

"We'll begin the meeting in five minutes and have dinner after," Mrs. Weasley announced, using a charm to make her voice loud enough for everyone in the house to hear. As planned, everyone met in the dining room. In order to be able to concentrate on the real matters of the Order, Harry and Hermione explained their situation to everyone who had shown up. The reactions varied from shock to anger to disbelief. Most seemed to get over it quickly, however, moving on easily to other topics, with the obvious exceptions of Ron and Ginny.

"Draco, dear, it is time now for you to explain your mission," Mrs. Weasley instructed. Hermione squeezed Draco's hand as he stood, anxious to hear what he had to say.

* * *

A/N: I think this was my longest chapter ever. My writing style has changed so much since I began this story, I've noticed. I'm rather embarrassed about my older chapters. Anyhoodles, please review. It is often a lovely review that reminds me that I should be updating and gets me going again. Also, there won't be much left to this story. A couple chapters or so. 


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